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- [00:01]
Payne Lindsay
On November 10th in Atlanta, Georgia, I'll be hosting an up and Vanished Live event. I'll be sharing exclusive video interviews from the season tape that has not yet been released and give you a complete behind the scenes look of our investigation. If you're in Atlanta or you want to make the drive or flight there, come see me on November 10th at Terminal West. You can get tickets now by going to upandvanished.com tickets. All proceeds from the show are being donated back to the family's reward fund. November 10th at Terminal West. Just go to upandvanish.com tickets up and.
- [00:36]
Leah
Vanished in the Midnight sun is released every Thursday and brought to you absolutely free. But for ad, free listening and exclusive bonuses, subscribe to Tenderfoot plus at tenderfootplus.com or on Apple Podcasts.
- [00:52]
Payne Lindsay
The holidays are all about sharing with family meals, couches, stories, Grandma's secret pecan pie recipe, and now you can also share a cart with Instacart's family carts. Everyone can add what they want to one group cart from wherever they are so you don't have to go from room to room to find out who wants cranberry sauce or who should get mini marshmallows for the yams or collecting votes for sugar cookies versus shortbread. Just share a cart and then share the meals and the moments. Download the Instacart app and get delivery in as fast as 30 minutes. Plus enjoy free delivery on your first three orders. Service fees and terms apply.
- [01:25]
Leah
Up and vanished in the Midnight sun is intended for mature audiences and may include topics that can be upsetting such as emotional, physical and sexual violence, rape and murder. The names of survivors have been changed for anonymity purposes. Testimony shared by guests of the show is their own and does not reflect the views of Tenderfoot TV or Odyssey. Thank you so much for listening.
- [01:49]
Payne Lindsay
Jake lied to the state troopers on multiple occasions about his whereabouts on the weekend Joseph went missing and so did Tyler, his friend. Jake told the police he stayed in his house playing video games all night when in fact he was at a party at a bonfire until at least 4 or 5am we have video proof of that. But why would Jake lie about that? The I don't remember excuse gets a lot flimsier when he's being asked to recall the night he first met his summer girlfriend Leah, the first time he kissed her and exchanged numbers. Somehow that's either all a blur to him or he's withholding information for a reason. I Talked to his 2016 summer girlfriend Leah for several hours and she Recalled to the best of her memory. What happened that summer? She left Nome in August 2016 and went back home to Florida. This is when the very first episode of up and Vanish came out about Tara Grinstead. And I kid you not, she started listening to the podcast and she has been ever since. When Joseph's case merged into the picture this season, she reached out to me. A little freaked out. Were you already listening to Oven Vanish Hayne?
- [03:07]
Leah
Yes. I was obsessed with Terra Grinstead season. I went to Alaska in 2016. So then when you put out this gnome season, I was like, you've got to be kidding me. Worlds collide. I've got this great message with four other girls I spent the summer with. We were just outsiders in Gnome. There's a lot more that you're putting out now that we had no idea when we were there. Sometimes it hits a little close to home and I'm like, take a step back and kind of process. We met June 25th at that party, and then Jake and I coupled off pretty quickly. We had just like a little summer fling. It was nothing serious. You know, we didn't talk after I left that summer, but him and I were involved.
- [03:59]
Payne Lindsay
Saturday morning, the 25th. What did you do that day? And then when were you with Jake for how long? And what did y'all do?
- [04:07]
Leah
I'm so thankful. I wrote what I did every single day that summer in a journal. Otherwise I would have no idea. We were at a party the night before, so I think we went to a house party. There's a bulldog that I pet. And then everyone went to the bars. And I went home Saturday morning. We were all kind of hungover. We went bridge jumping earlier that day. I have pictures from that on June 25th. But we did not go with Jake because I met him that night at the party. So I meet Jake at this party. Everyone's drunk. All the girls, the interns I lived with, we all left together, and all six of us were there. We went to the party. The picture I sent you was from 1am and I know there was at least 30 more minutes after that that I would have talked to Jake.
- [04:54]
Payne Lindsay
So Leah meets Jake at this party on Saturday night. They kiss and exchange numbers. She took several pictures and videos from the party, but you can clearly see Jake himself in the background. Around 2am or so, she leaves the party and goes back home with her girlfriends. She goes to sleep, and when she wakes up the next morning, she sees a text message from Jake that he sent to her while she was sleeping.
- [05:18]
Leah
And he texted me and was asking if he'd come over. He didn't come over. Cause I was drunk. I literally was completely asleep. And it was like the next morning I saw that he had texted me and tried to come over. It had to have been like, 3.
- [05:34]
Payne Lindsay
4, 5am A friend named Cam remembers dropping Jake off at Leah's house around 5am did he just knock on her door, then turn around and walk home?
- [05:46]
Leah
So many people saw you at this party. Why are you not coming out and saying that you were there and that's what you did? I really have a hard time believing that he did anything leading up to the point when he met me and kissed me because it was just so normal. It's like, why would you. Why would you do that and then go to this big open party? But then, on the other hand, even if you were blackout drunk and don't remember being at that party and people are asking you your alibi, why not just say you're there? Okay. So per my journal, I'm so thankful I wrote what I did every single day that summer in a journal. Otherwise I would have no idea. So we met the Saturday party. June 25th.
- [06:30]
Payne Lindsay
June 25th.
- [06:31]
Leah
We met June 25th at that man camp party. The first time that I saw him a few days later, when we were sober during the week, he had told me, at some point, my roommate's a missing person. And I was like, that's weird. First he told me, they took all my guns. They searched the house. There's caution tape on the door. My roommate's missing. It was very nonchalant. They took all my guns.
- [06:59]
Payne Lindsay
Took all his guns.
- [07:00]
Christine Pascoya
What do you mean?
- [07:01]
Leah
He told me that during the week, he was saying, like, yeah, my roommate's a missing person. The cops took my guns.
- [07:08]
Payne Lindsay
Do you remember him, like, specifically saying that they. That they took his guns?
- [07:12]
Leah
Yes, he said, the cops, they took my guns. They. Yeah.
- [07:15]
Payne Lindsay
More than one gun.
- [07:17]
Leah
He used that term. That is clear in my head. But I don't know if he meant multiple. But that is what he said.
- [07:24]
Payne Lindsay
Yeah. Did he make it sound like they took my guns? I don't have them back yet.
- [07:29]
Leah
Yeah.
- [07:32]
Payne Lindsay
Interesting.
- [07:33]
Leah
It is interesting. I know for a fact that Jake had told me that before July 1st.
- [07:40]
Payne Lindsay
When did the cops first go there?
- [07:42]
Jake
I can tell you.
- [07:43]
Payne Lindsay
Not July 1st. Right.
- [07:48]
Leah
He made that statement to me before July 1st.
- [07:51]
Payne Lindsay
Jake told Leah that the cops took his guns, plural, before the cops had even been to his house and seen a gun in the first place. They didn't even notice the Rifle in the house until July 3rd.
- [08:05]
Leah
They took it before then. By the first was the house party. So he had already told me that we had the missing person conversation before then. It was when he told me his roommate was missing that he said, yeah, no, like, they're interviewing me. They took my guns.
- [08:19]
Payne Lindsay
Maybe someone did take the gun, but it just wasn't the police.
- [08:25]
Leah
Monday was the 27th. I saw him for the first time sober on Monday.
- [08:29]
Payne Lindsay
He's sober on Monday.
- [08:30]
Leah
So we hung out on the 29th for the first time. Like, longer. And that could have been when he told me it was either. It was probably the 29th that he told me that, but it was between June 27th and July 1st.
- [08:44]
Payne Lindsay
It seems pretty early for Jake to be saying that. Who knows? It's weird, though.
- [08:49]
Leah
Jake had a party. He had a party that we all went over to the house for the first time. He gave us a house tour at the house party. He's like, see, I told you. There's the room. I feel kind of stupid. In hindsight, when someone tells you their roommate's missing, you would start to question and pick up on the fact that, oh, you're not involved in the search. You don't ever talk about it. That in and of itself is weird, but at the time, we were just naive. Everyone just said, it's Alaska. People go missing. It happens all the time. I do have to tell you this later on in the night. It did freak me out in the moment, but I continued to hang out with him and not think anything of it. But during that house party, people didn't have anywhere to sleep. And he went into Joseph's room and got a pillow from Joseph's room for people. I remember all this just being like, did he just go into the crime scene and take a pillow? And some people started laughing to us. We were just like, that's really weird. He went into that room and got a pillow for someone to sleep on.
- [09:57]
Payne Lindsay
Leah sent me her journal entries for that summer. She wrote down what she did nearly every single day. And from her perspective, it's likely the most authentic timeline we have.
- [10:07]
Leah
He never wanted to talk about it back then.
- [10:10]
Payne Lindsay
Did you, like, try? And he didn't, or he just. Yeah.
- [10:12]
Leah
Oh, my God. I would ask. I would ask. I would ask all the time, like, what? I would just bring it up casually because it's like a main thing happening that summer, you know, I would just say, like, gosh, I still just can't believe they haven't found that guy. Like, I would make that Comment. I would just be saying that out loud. And then at one point, we were on a hike once and we were off on our own. I don't know. If you asked me, I think someone had bad blood. Somebody had bad blood. And I was like, what?
- [10:39]
Kevin Pascoya
What?
- [10:39]
Leah
What do you mean by that? That's the first time I had ever heard anyone insinuate that it was not a bear. And he just completely changed the subject after that. He's like, nothing. I don't know. I'm like, you just said that you think someone had bad blood with this missing person. That means you think it could have been a murder.
- [10:56]
Payne Lindsay
I told Leah that Bonnie, Jake's mom, had first brought her name up to the PI Andy Clamser.
- [11:01]
Leah
Wait, Bonnie said that to Jake?
- [11:04]
Kevin Pascoya
Yeah.
- [11:04]
Payne Lindsay
Find the Bonnie clip. But Bonnie brought you up.
- [11:07]
Tom Vaden
What the fuck?
- [11:08]
Leah
I never met her. That is. Wait, that's really weird to me. Wait, so what you're telling me is Bonnie gave Jake the heads up that the investigator knew about me? That makes absolutely zero sense to me, Payne. Literally. Thank you so much for playing that for me. You don't know how much that means. It's a lot to process. The fact that the only people that have seen Joseph or have communication with Joseph are all related past a certain point. It's freaking weird that I met him that Saturday night. I have to take, like, probably the rest of the night and week to process that.
- [12:00]
Payne Lindsay
Leah and I have continued to stay in communication, and slowly but surely, more details about that summer have come to light. She left Nome in August 2016, back to Florida, and she's never talked to Jake or been back to Nome since. But the group of girls she was with that summer have collectively pulled together all their information. Phone data, photos, video, and it's building a much clearer picture. From Tenderfoot TV in Atlanta, this is up and Vanished in the midnight sun. Chapter two. I'm your host, Payne Lindsay. In 2018, two years after Joseph went missing, his family petitioned with the state of Alaska to officially declare him deceased. A presumptive death hearing was held in the Nome courthouse, and several people were subpoenaed to testify under oath. One of them was Christine.
- [13:21]
Christine Pascoya
My full name is Christine Anvascoia. C H R I S T N E A N N PIs to ya. Can you just begin by generally introducing yourself, just your age, where you live and what you do in the community? Can you kind of just explain how you met Joseph and just generally the nature of your relationship? I first met Joseph when he started his first year as a, you know, working here, that's when I first met him. And then as the time went on, we started talking more and just becoming more friends and just talking. I did start to invite him over to my grandmother's place for us for traditional Eskimo food to see if he would like it, and he did. So he kept. He wouldn't go all the time, but he went occasionally. And so just from. As time went on, we just talked more and hung out more and did stuff. It sounds like Joseph spent some time.
- [14:26]
Leah
With you and your family on a.
- [14:28]
Christine Pascoya
Somewhat regular basis back there. Can you kind of just explain if you know what Joseph's hobbies were, what he liked to do with his free time? He was an avid runner. He ran a lot. And I think almost every day he said he'd either run or bike because he had a bike until it broke, I guess, but he would run. He liked being in the outdoors. He liked going for hikes. He likes, you know, fishing and being in the outdoors overall. So how would you describe Joseph's personality and his demeanor? Was he. He used to think he was funny, but it came out more as a lawyer type of funny, I guess to explain. We did bicker, but it was like a sibling bicker. It wasn't a, oh, I'm going to be mad at you because I want to. But we always found something to disagree on and agree that we disagree. So overall, he just was a very generous person, you know, friendly. So I didn't believe that he was crazy or that he was. I don't know, you know, he was normal. Did you ever see him go through periods of depression or anxiety or anything that would cause you concern? I think the only thing is, like, he was here for two years and he was going on to a new adventure. And I don't know if it just was something new that he hadn't done in the last two years. I'd probably just say it would be a slight anxious, but nothing to give me a red flag that he was depressed or anything. I didn't get that. So I've been questioned by police, AST investigators, attorneys, private investigators, and they've all asked me what do I think happened to him? Could this have happened? I said at the time, because I think the last interview I did was with a private investigator. But they had all asked me what do I think happened or what do I feel like happened? And I said at the time, I said, once I start to believe that something happened to him, that's when I lose hope. Hope that we won't find him. And it. They were like, well, do you think he was murdered? Do you think he left? I said, I don't know. I can't say. All I know is I don't know where he's at. But the second I start believing in something happened to him, then that's when I lose hope. And so they understood that, I don't know he's somewhere, he's missing. I don't know. So I can't say what happened to him because I don't know. And I don't want to start to believe in something that I don't know what happened. Those are all my questions. Thank you, Kristen.
- [17:47]
Payne Lindsay
Clearly, something happened to Joseph. The state of Alaska officially declared Joseph Balderas as deceased in. A death certificate was issued to his family. There was a weapon involved. When the trooper went into the room, he didn't see anything. And then all of a sudden, when he goes back into the room, there was a What? A rifle inside Joseph's room.
- [18:13]
Leah
Are you solid on that?
- [18:16]
Kevin Pascoya
Which officer?
- [18:17]
Payne Lindsay
Smith and Strobel. They found a rifle in his room. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything.
- [18:24]
Jake
Would that.
- [18:25]
Kevin Pascoya
No, no. This is not a criminal case.
- [18:26]
Leah
It's all public information.
- [18:27]
Payne Lindsay
They have to turn it all over. They just haven't yet. The two investigators and I sat down and they were focusing in on the rifle, and Ed showed up. Jake's uncle put it there. Kevin. The disappearing and reappearing rifle in Jake's house. It was said that Jake's uncle Kevin was moving it around. Kevin would be his uncle. Right. And he was on the search. Bar.
- [18:57]
Kevin Pascoya
What's the uncle's name?
- [18:58]
Leah
Kevin Piscoya.
- [19:00]
Payne Lindsay
P I S C O Y A Yep. Former police officer got fired. You said that Kevin Piscola is a.
- [19:11]
Kevin Pascoya
Former officer that was fired.
- [19:13]
Payne Lindsay
His brother is a state trooper in Fairbanks and he was heavily involved in the search. Probably about four days. What area was he searching?
- [19:23]
Kevin Pascoya
All over. Is that a record?
- [19:24]
Payne Lindsay
Is there a record of where he went? No, because he was in various groups. Why would he place a gun in somebody else's room? After the guy who went missing confiscated a gun out of that room? The other two troopers that came in from Anchorage and they told you not to tell anybody?
- [19:46]
Kevin Pascoya
Why would they tell you not to tell anyone? Did you guys go to school with Kevin?
- [19:55]
Payne Lindsay
He was in our.
- [19:56]
Leah
In our.
- [19:57]
Payne Lindsay
Not in our class, but he was below us. Tell me a little bit about him. I think he had a little drinking problem. He's rough around the edges. That's narcissistic you may recall from earlier that during the search it was reported that Kevin Piscoya was driving his ATV over footprints and tracks in the woods, obstructing the path of the canine search dogs. Jake told Leah his guns were missing before the police even knew there was a gun in the first place. And maybe Jake's telling the truth about that. Maybe Kevin did take it and then place it back there. Here's a recording of an old acquaintance of Kevin Pascoya.
- [20:41]
Jake
Think it's gonna come out? It's gonna come out. I think it's gonna come out. The old cops. Yeah, ex cops. Kevin. Kevin was a. He was a policeman too. Kevin was good for a friend of mine. It's gonna come out. You know, there's a lot of things that. That I always talking about it and now started caffeine coming out because you know when you're in the bar, you always listen. People talks. People talk too much when they're drinking. But I know a lot. I know a lot. When Selena was here, his sister. I'm a good friend with them. I'm in touch with Selena and her mom when they come to know to go to Nome. I even had a dinner. And that's how I find out a lot of things and then about the case. And I knew what was going to happen to Kevin in those days. And Kevin, Kevin told me one day I went there with Valderra's mom and dad and Tracy and Joe's mom and sister Selena. And they're here, they want to see you and they want to say hi. I go there and they grab a table and we're sitting on the table there. And Kevin goes there and see me sitting with Dan and he look at me, but I was very uncomfortable there. I go like. And then keep saying looking. I go, fuck, shit, you know. The next weekend the Kevin went to Chew Darwin. He looked at me, he looked at me, Hey, I saw my brother. My brother grabbed my hand, pulled me to his heart like that.
- [22:08]
Payne Lindsay
I love you.
- [22:09]
Jake
You know I love you, right? He said, oh, I know you love me. I love you too. You know you dad, you know that he always did high five me. He always high five me, but he never hugged me. And I was just very uncomfortable the whole time. Look at me and look at him. I was watching him all the time. You know, things happen for a reason. And the way he died, it was weird, man. It was weird.
- [22:34]
Payne Lindsay
On October 3, 2021, Kevin Pascoya went missing. Then later that day he was found deceased in his vehicle around mile 37 of Council Road, not too far from where they found Joseph's truck.
- [22:47]
Jake
He left the bar there. He went home, got more drunk and got in the car. Took a bottle of Crown with him. So he's dead. He's dead somewhere. So he was pulling him. Joe, people don't believe in that stuff. When you're guilty, when you done something, do something. It can take months, days, months. People are here, whatever. But it will be one day. His spirit still alive. But they never say what happened to him because his brother found his.
- [23:25]
Payne Lindsay
I looked back at the obituary, and.
- [23:27]
Christine Pascoya
They never said how he died.
- [23:29]
Jake
No, they. Nobody said when he shot himself or whatever he did himself.
- [23:34]
Leah
He's the only one who saw the body.
- [23:37]
Jake
By the time he called, you know, they never say what happened.
- [23:44]
Payne Lindsay
Kevin's cause of death remains a mystery. Nothing about it in his obituary. But what is known is that the first to arrive to the scene were his family members, not the paramedics. Plenty of rumors floating around out there about this. Nothing concrete, but the story is always the same. Rumors of a Crown liquor bottle, pills, and some sort of suicide note. Again, all just rumors. But what I can say is that I heard from a paramedic who was at the scene hours after the family had been there. The one thing they recalled was the smell. And sorry to be graphic, but they felt the smell indicated to them that he had been deceased for much longer than he was reported missing for. Almost like he was put there. Just someone's observation. But it all feels eerily close and similar to Joseph Balderas.
- [24:40]
Kevin Pascoya
I was a paradiologist up there in Nome for 16 years, from 1998 until 2015. And I think there's a lot of good cops, but there's also some bad ones. And they seem to be in a position of power. And there's so many problems up there. It's so easy for people to get away with stuff. People escaping, people running away from stuff. Come to Nome because it's so far removed. There's often bad people or people with bad intentions. They can come up into Nome and they can get away with stuff. Drugs. Drugs are big up there, which you can sell a pill of OxyContin on the streets in St. Lawrence Island. Gambler's Subunga. Huge. I mean, alcohol makes a lot of money in these small, isolated communities. With drugs, even more, it's big business. Nome is a hub for 15 surrounding villages over an area the size of Ohio. People with bad intentions, they can come up into Nome. And they can get away with stuff. People just don't want to speak. Tight lipped people share stuff with me. Then I get back with them to follow up, like, oh, maybe I shouldn't have said this. There's a lot of good people up there, but there's a dark side. The corruption there goes all the way up to the mayor back in the early 90s. He was famous for his coke parties. Cocaine. Oh, that's. Everybody knows that cocaine is illegal. So it means he had to be getting it from drug dealers, which means he had the connections. A retired state of Alaska Medicaid fraud investigator said if the mayor was ever fully investigated, audited, there'd be enough financial fraud to put him behind bars for a long time. There's something wrong. I'm suspicious. And other people I've talked to are that he knows what's going on in that town. I personally would not be surprised if he knows what happened to Florence and what happened to Bulldaris. There's a good old boy network up there. They rub each other's back and do all kinds of stuff. And the corruption is at the very top, exploits vulnerable people. You get into power up there and you just realize it. You can get away with so much because the people that you can control, people that grew up there, they live there in Nome. Their families are there, their job is there, their kids are there. They can't go anywhere. They can't speak up against these power structures. And that's why the hospital there is so corrupt. I was the radiologist at the hospital in Nome. Basically the only medical specialist in town. The CEO at the time was a sexual predator. First person I found out he groped was my radiology director. Reaching under the blouse, grabbing the breasts. And then two other women in radiology were also groped. Breasts and crotches. I brought all three of these women to. We need to go to the police and make a statement. This is sexual. Assault is crime. I have their names. I've talked with them and I went with them to the police. The police chief at the time, police chief didn't know and an investigation was started. I called the medical director in to my office. The hospital immediately went into cover up mode. The CEO lasted three days. It was reported that he had tendered his resignation. That's a euphemism for, you know, being fired, but it was a tendered resignation. Once he tendered his resignation, Carol Pasquoya was appointed acting CEO. Did you talk to Carol? I'll get to them. Carol Pasquoyo became the acting CEO, and everyone in the hospital was told not to talk about this. The CEO groped these women outside the hospital. So what happens outside the hospital stays outside the hospital. It doesn't come in. In the hospital. We were not supposed to talk about it. Three sexual assaults. These are crimes. You don't turn the page on crimes. Sexual assaults are felonies, by the way, you idiot. Lonnie Piscoia. Did you ever talk to Lonnie? He was a state trooper, and he's now in charge of missing and murdered indigenous people.
- [29:18]
Payne Lindsay
Carol Pasquoya, grandmother of Jake and Christine and the mother of Kevin. She also has a son, Lonnie Piscolla, who was appointed as the lead MMIW investigator for the entire state. I emailed Lonnie all the way back in January before this podcast was even out, saying, your work with MMIW is really strong and admirable. We're doing a podcast about Florence Okpialik, and we'd love to talk to you. Nine months later, I've yet to get a response.
- [29:46]
Kevin Pascoya
Lonnie Piscolla is a retired state trooper. His mother, Carol Piskoya, obstructed a police investigation in multiple assaults. What if Lonnie's investigations take him anywhere close to his mother or to the mayor? He's going to have a conflict of interest no matter where you look. They're all tied together and they're covered for each other. They tried to run me out of town for years. I stirred the pot by reporting a crime, which you don't do because they like to handle things in house. I finally just left on my own because I just got tired of the corruption up there. I had no respect for anybody. The Pasquoyas. There was that one Pasquoya, Kevin Pasquoya. I think Joseph Bolderas was having a relationship with Christine. Kevin Pasquoya knew something or was mad, but there's something going on there. Lonnie might be okay, but I mean, is he going to go against his mother and the mayor? No. You got all these people in there. None of them are going to want to talk, because pull one domino out and the whole thing collapses. There's a den of darkness and corruption up there, and you got to give people information. If you hear that something's happening, somebody's being hurt or taken advantage of or abused or stolen from, you don't just look the other way. Too many people were aware of this stuff. They're aware that this person's covering this up. They're aware that this person did this and they don't say anything and eventually you're going to get to the dark clit. That's going to be very tight knit and that's where it's going to take law enforcement or somebody to turn these people against each other. I mean, if somebody said who interacted with Joseph, what happened, what vehicles were there besides his truck, somebody knows. It's like when you take down a serial killer, they give you information about all the other unsolved cases that they were involved in.
- [31:50]
Leah
Lonnie has seen the worst in society and he has seen the best in Society. On September 19, 2022, Lonnie was hired.
- [32:00]
Tom Vaden
Back to the Alaska State Trooper investigation.
- [32:03]
Leah
And the missing and murdered Indigenous Persons Unit.
- [32:06]
Payne Lindsay
Lonnie did a zoom interview call with students last year.
- [32:11]
Leah
His goal as an investigator in this.
- [32:13]
Tom Vaden
Unit is to solve as many cases as possible.
- [32:16]
Leah
Thank you. And at this time I will turn.
- [32:18]
Christine Pascoya
It over to Lonnie.
- [32:20]
Payne Lindsay
Thanks for inviting me today. I guess the one thing that wasn't said earlier is I got four brothers and two sisters and a gazillion cousins.
- [32:29]
Tom Vaden
Aunts and uncles, of course.
- [32:31]
Payne Lindsay
I think my mother's online, so she's.
- [32:33]
Kevin Pascoya
Probably chuckling by now.
- [32:35]
Payne Lindsay
At the end of the interview, students asked questions and so did his mom, Carol.
- [32:42]
Leah
Carol asks, at what point or when do you get involved with either a missing or murdered person? Missing persons from this area have been missing for years.
- [32:53]
Payne Lindsay
That's my mother.
- [32:55]
Kevin Pascoya
Mom.
- [32:55]
Payne Lindsay
I guess it's the squeaky wheel gets to grease right when you speak up about it and you call and call.
- [33:03]
Kevin Pascoya
And ask and say, I think I.
- [33:06]
Payne Lindsay
Have more information, then I'll get involved. Well, the phone's still ringing. Is a two hour conversation with the last person to have seen Florence OKP alive, knew enough information considering the fact he had her belongings in his tent, was never officially interviewed by police, and claims that she was murdered and put inside a barrel under a meth dealer's house in nomenclature.
- [33:29]
Tom Vaden
Eventually, I think we'll get to some of these cases that are not necessarily.
- [33:34]
Payne Lindsay
More popular but have been publicized more out there. We're ready when you are. Check your email. This episode is brought to you by Peacock and the new original Docuseries.
- [33:54]
Jake
Making Manson.
- [33:55]
Leah
In 1969, Charles Manson and his followers.
- [33:58]
Payne Lindsay
Committed seven brutal murders in Los Angeles.
- [34:01]
Leah
That would make him infamous.
- [34:02]
Payne Lindsay
Now, with access to over 100 hours of phone recordings between an incarcerated Manson.
- [34:08]
Kevin Pascoya
And his closest confidant, a new story.
- [34:10]
Payne Lindsay
Will unfold with shocking revelations from the man himself.
- [34:15]
Leah
Making Manson is streaming now only on.
- [34:17]
Payne Lindsay
Peacock Water damage is no joke. Did you know that water damage makes up more than 25% of all home insurance claims and the average claim costs over $13,000. Don't let a small leak turn into a big expense. Learn more at go.pemco.com Nojoke Pemco Mutual Insurance Co. Seattle, WA Hey Tenderfoot listeners, do you have a minute? We'd love to hear from you. We want to know what you think about the shows you love, what keeps you coming back, what could make your listening experience even better? Your feedback helps us grow and deliver the content you care about most. It's super simple. Just fill out our quick survey. You'll be part of determining what stories we tackle next. Plus, you could win a nice prize just for sharing your thoughts. Head over to Tenderfoot TV Survey and let your voice be heard and you'll be entered to win a $100Amazon gift card plus a tenderfoot merch pack. It only takes a few minutes and it makes a big difference. Thank you for being part of our community. We can't wait to hear from Nome has had a dark history for a long time now. Long before I began investigating, a journalist by the name of Victoria McKenzie traveled to Nome to conduct her own investigation into the police department.
- [35:35]
Tom Vaden
I was working as a deputy editor for the center on Media, Crime and Justice in New York. I started looking into Nome and long history of public complaints about mistreatment of Alaska Native people by police. Decade after decade, you'd hear calls by Native institutions calling for a civil rights investigation of civil rights violations and also an outside investigation of these deaths and disappearances. Women and girls in Alaska faced four times the national average of homicides. I felt it was really underreported. Around that same time, National Native News had a short report about a group of Alaska Native women who came out saying that look, we reported serious sexual assaults to local police and they did nothing. They're not taking our cases seriously.
- [36:25]
Payne Lindsay
I met Victoria in person in New York City. She recalled her experience in Nome and what she uncovered during the months she stayed there. A group of Alaska Native women had band together seeking justice for sexual assaults that were not being investigated.
- [36:40]
Tom Vaden
What they were all saying is that they needed data to prove what was going on. They had asked for this data from the state and it wasn't forthcoming. People wanted data on Native victimization, data that tracks cases from first report through to prosecution outcome, if there's any. They'd been working for three years behind the scenes to improve police response to sexual Assaults. Police interviews were really victim blaming. In 2018, you didn't only have this one group of women, but other community members were really upset about specific incidents with police. A police officer was convicted of punching an Alaska Native woman in his custody. He continued to work in the department afterwards. There were concerns about another officer giving unauthorized ride alongs to underage girls. And that really echoed back to what happened with owens.
- [37:35]
Payne Lindsay
Back in 2003, Nome Police Officer Matthew Owens was convicted for the murder of 19 year old Sonya Ivanoff. His inappropriate behavior towards Native women had been reported for a long time before then, but the Nome Police Department did absolutely nothing about it.
- [37:55]
Tom Vaden
They knew he was riding around, patrolling in his police cruiser, picking up young women. And at the same time you had.
- [38:04]
Payne Lindsay
A 911 operator, an Alaska Native woman who was sexually assaulted, reported her own assault and nothing happened.
- [38:12]
Tom Vaden
She came out in the news saying that she reported her own rape to her lieutenant, her colleague and friend, Lieutenant Nick Harvey. And he did nothing for a year. He'd been the ranking officer for a long time in charge of investigations. He didn't create a call for service or a police report. And meanwhile he told her he was working on the case. John Papa Zadora, who had been with the known Police Department since 2007, you did see him in the news talking about the lack of financial resources for policing and the high turnover rate. Obviously they were turning people away if he's saying, you know, we don't have enough resources. But was that the whole story? I spoke with people who had worked under him in the department. One was a sergeant, Sergeant Staats. He had conducted his own investigations, he said of Lt. Harvey. He felt that Harvey had been promoted without any reason to do so and that he, Staats, had experienced retaliation every time he tried to report nonsense, what he called shoddy police work, not going out on serious sexual assaults, serious felony assaults, and also what he called like good old boy network. What he eventually did was quit, file a complaint. And that's before the 911 operator was assaulted. She had reported her rape to Lieutenant Nick Harvey and he did nothing about it for a year. And then the chief knew about it too. The ACLU filed this equal protection suit on behalf of the 911 operator.
- [39:43]
Payne Lindsay
Known police eventually settled the lawsuit for $750,000.
- [39:49]
Tom Vaden
I can't say why. There was never a report made or a call for service made. You'd have to ask them. They didn't really respond either. So the complaint was on behalf of this one911 operator who's Alaska Native. Being part of a pattern and practice of discrimination against Alaska Natives and against women in Nome. She was looking for vindication of her own rights to equal protection. But also all of the other women in Nome didn't feel safe anymore for valid reasons. It stalled for a long time because the city wouldn't turn over discovery. They had to get a court order to turn over discovery. And still after the court order, they didn't give it. I've heard from the police officer who was hired to replace Matthew Clay Owens. She had been ordered several times to drop cases of sexual assaults for reasons like, oh, the victim had been drinking. The victim, a 14 year old girl, was not a virgin. Or oh, I know the suspect. He's a good guy. He doesn't have sex with minors. He only takes, you know, he gets adults drunk and takes them out to the tundra and has sex with them. She was the lone female officer at the time. She was trying to investigate sexual assaults, sexual assaults against minors, sexual assaults against adults. And, you know, was having this experience over and over again. She had written a lengthy document to every single city council member when she left, turned over documentation on falsified reports, everything she had seen going on there. The city knew what was going on. There's just no way to deny that. It was overwhelming. And I was really aware of how traumatizing it was for people to talk to me. There were people who, you know, withdrew from the whole story process. They had sources who had a mental health crisis and didn't want to continue. And we have the numbers to show what was happening. We have the police reports or the lack of police reports to show what's happening. We have the medical reports to show what's happening. It's lazy to just go up to somebody and have them cry into a microphone.
- [42:04]
Payne Lindsay
I spoke to the former 911 operator on the phone.
- [42:08]
Christine Pascoya
I love Victoria. She helped me with my case. And I really appreciate what you guys are doing for Bulgaria and Sloane's family. I really appreciate that. I do remember the day that Joseph went missing. I was still a dispatcher at that time. The chief of police, he was very adamant that a bear had gotten him. One remark that he did make to.
- [42:42]
Leah
Me was, you think I'm stupid.
- [42:45]
Christine Pascoya
And I'm like, well, you know, it's kind of common sense. If a bear had gotten him, where's.
- [42:50]
Payne Lindsay
His shoes, where's his fillies?
- [42:54]
Christine Pascoya
This is why I was a dispatcher. These were conversations that I walked in on.
- [42:59]
Payne Lindsay
It doesn't take A rocket scientist to realize that policing in Alaska has never changed. Despite new money, new investigators, lawsuits, initiatives, the good old boys have remained in place.
- [43:14]
Kevin Pascoya
Florence Oak Pialik. Oh, interesting. Yeah, I talked to you about that one, too. Florence O'Pealek, a native galaxy, disappeared from the west beach there. You know, her last words were, they picked it up off her cell phone. Her last words were, there's four of them in the bushes, and it doesn't look good. I told the troopers up there, you need to get ahold of her phone and do a forensic thing. She was hanging out with some guy named Oregon John, a meth guy, I guess, and he was supplying her with meth, and she was into drugs. I called to talk to the investigator up there at npd. We talked about Oregon John, and he thought that Oregon John was the main suspect.
- [44:04]
Payne Lindsay
Why would the lead MMIW investigator for the entire state of Alaska completely disregard Florence Ogpialik's disappearance? It's time to revisit the disappearance of Florence Okpialik.
- [44:29]
Tom Vaden
There is a recognition amongst the native community that they have not been always treated very well in Nome.
- [44:37]
Christine Pascoya
Nome has this very different history, and yet Native people have been here and.
- [44:42]
Tom Vaden
Been part of Nome's history from the very beginning. Flo hadn't come home one night. She'd been taken down to some of these tent camps. Blair went down the beach to try to find her sister.
- [44:58]
Christine Pascoya
This guy gives her some of Flo's.
- [45:01]
Tom Vaden
Clothes, but she's not there. I just know he was a cab.
- [45:08]
Christine Pascoya
Driver in town, and a lot of.
- [45:09]
Tom Vaden
People didn't like him.
- [45:12]
Payne Lindsay
Well, we know who this guy is. He goes by Oregon John.
- [45:17]
Tom Vaden
Whether it was intentional or an effort to shut her up, she's clearly been murdered.
- [45:22]
Payne Lindsay
The cat's coming out of the bag. There are other names in this case.
- [45:26]
Tom Vaden
I don't know these people, but you don't hear anything good about a fellow named Mike McGowan or Paul Benchoff Jr.
- [45:35]
Payne Lindsay
Alongside Oregon John, two other men have been named.
- [45:39]
Tom Vaden
Rumors are they're into meth.
- [45:44]
Payne Lindsay
There's different stories that there's other people.
- [45:47]
Tom Vaden
Involved with John Guertin.
- [45:50]
Christine Pascoya
Michael McGowan is one of them.
- [45:52]
Payne Lindsay
He was a druggie. I had previously censored their names, but no longer. They are Paul benchoff and Michael McGowan.
- [46:03]
Tom Vaden
If somebody abducts us, scratch them, pull our hair out.
- [46:06]
Christine Pascoya
Leave as much evidence as you can behind and rely on the public to find them, not the police department, because they're not capable or willing to. I've got a couple friends who were beaten up by them, but they were too scared to go forward.
- [46:20]
Payne Lindsay
Blair Flo's sister. Do you know who she was with?
- [46:26]
Christine Pascoya
John Curtin.
- [46:27]
Payne Lindsay
And who are the other guys?
- [46:30]
Christine Pascoya
Paul Benjoff.
- [46:31]
Payne Lindsay
Yeah.
- [46:33]
Christine Pascoya
Michael McGowan.
- [46:39]
Leah
He was standing by. John. Go.
- [46:40]
Christine Pascoya
A couple days later, he got busted for drugs.
- [46:44]
Payne Lindsay
Who did? This guy?
- [46:45]
Leah
Yeah, this guy.
- [46:49]
Payne Lindsay
If we have the names of these people, why aren't the police doing anything about it?
- [46:54]
Christine Pascoya
They never listen.
- [46:57]
Payne Lindsay
They didn't listen to us.
- [47:01]
Christine Pascoya
You know, why didn't the police talk to all these people?
- [47:10]
Tom Vaden
The theory that I think and the city wanted to work on was that she'd gotten really drunk, left the tents, tried to walk back to dome and passed out and died of hypothermia somewhere. Until a body's found, every search starts where the person was last seen.
- [47:30]
Payne Lindsay
Why would her belongings be there and her not be there?
- [47:34]
Tom Vaden
It's all part of the mystery, isn't it?
- [47:39]
Christine Pascoya
Well, they may have been known for.
- [47:40]
Tom Vaden
Their gold, but they're also known for their drugs.
- [47:43]
Christine Pascoya
So they're not gold miners, they're troublemakers. I think the drug dealers got away with murder.
- [48:06]
Payne Lindsay
Did you know that after World War II, the US government quietly brought former Nazi scientists to America in a covert operation to advance military technology? Or that in the 1950s, the US army conducted a secret experiment by releasing bacteria over San Francisco to test how a biological attack might spread without alerting the public? These might sound like conspiracy theories, but they're not. They're well documented government operations that have been hidden away in classified files for decades. I'm Luke Lamanna, a Marine Corps recon vet, and I've always had a thing for digging into the unknown. It's what led me to start my new podcast, Declassified Mysteries. In it, I explore hidden truths and reveal some eye opening events like covert experiments and secret operations that those in power tried to keep buried. Follow redacted Declassified Mysteries with me, Luke Lamanna, on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts to listen ad free. Join Wondery plus in the Wondery app. In late October 2020, just two months after Florence went missing, the Alaska State Troopers, alongside the FBI conducted a large scale drug bust in Nome, seizing heroin and methamphetamine, resulting in the arrests of eight people. And two of those people were Paul Benchoff and Michael McGowan. When I spoke to the former 911 operator for MPD who was sexually assaulted and sued the department, she recalled a peculiar incident that transpired shortly after Joseph went missing.
- [49:44]
Christine Pascoya
It was right around the time that Joseph had gone missing. Every time I brought it up at work, anytime it was brought up, Kevin would show up right there behind my back, breathing over it, just getting, getting those heebie jeebies. Oh, it's that creepy feeling. Something I was told by the manager, then don't talk about it. It pondered my mind. I really do think it was Kevin.
- [50:17]
Payne Lindsay
It's time to start piecing this all together. I have Christine Pascoya's phone records for that weekend. And in it there are numerous calls to a random phone number during the day. Friday, Friday night, again after midnight and around 6am on Saturday. All these calls to a random guy she's not even friends with on Facebook. A man named Tom Vaden. This is Josie, a local anom who has helped Joseph's family with the investigation for years.
- [50:53]
Christine Pascoya
Looking at Christine Piscolla's phone records, several phone calls back and forth to that number early in the evening, then late in the evening. Tom Baden, volunteer ambulance department emt, also a professional bear hunting guide. I remember thinking, did Joseph get hurt? Did Christine call Tom baby to get medical assistance? It bothered me so much that I called him. I said, tom, why would Christine be calling you at these times of the morning? The morning that Joseph disappeared, He said, well that was my old home phone number, the landline. He was married at the time. They had split up. Apparently she kept the house and the phone number, the landline. And what Tom Baden had said was that was my old house, that was my old landline and it was a known drug house.
- [51:55]
Payne Lindsay
I've seen these messages myself. So essentially the number Christine was calling all hours of the night Joseph went missing was a landline number. And it belonged to a house not too far from where Joseph lived. A house known amongst the locals as the drug dealing house.
- [52:19]
Christine Pascoya
I came up till 2, 3 in the morning and then somebody calls at 6:51 in the morning and then at 9:30 in the morning. All those phone calls at strange hours just said to me like somebody was up all night. And I just thought, you know, were they? I don't know. I never knew Joseph to be in the drugs and I, I don't none of them have. I known them to be into drugs. But you just never know, right? The timing of it all. Things are pretty consistent up until the time Kim says she left them for Breakers. She took a cab ride home and then it was just Joseph and Christ, maybe they went out that night to talk about him moving to Juneau and he was going to be getting married to Megan. And maybe it was accidental after all. But whether it was between Jake and Christine, Kevin swooped in. And maybe it was accidental after all, it was a known drug house.
- [53:23]
Payne Lindsay
Both Florence Okpialik and Joseph Balderas disappeared under very different circumstances. But two years into this investigation, I found an uncanny connection they both have. Joseph was last seen with Christine and apparently she went to the beach with him the next day. But other than that, it's only members of the Pasquoya family themselves who claim to have seen Joseph anywhere. Christine and Joseph were together past 2am on Friday night and Christine made six or more phone calls to a landline number linked to a house in town known for its drug dealing. Who was living in the house at that time? Were they selling drugs that night? I found a man who was living there during the time of both Joseph and Florence's disappearance who in October of 2020 was arrested for distribution of narcotics in Nome. A man who is now on the run with an active warrant for his arrest. A man named Michael McGowan. The same man named as an associate of Oregon John on the night of Flo's disappearance.
- [54:26]
Tom Vaden
I don't know these people, but you don't hear anything good about a fellow named Mike McGowan. Rumors are they're into meth. Other people involved with John Guertin.
- [54:37]
Christine Pascoya
Michael McGowan is one of them. He was a druggie.
- [54:41]
Payne Lindsay
Do you know who she was with?
- [54:43]
Christine Pascoya
John Guertin.
- [54:44]
Payne Lindsay
And who are the other guys?
- [54:47]
Christine Pascoya
Michael McGowan.
- [54:53]
Payne Lindsay
We've talked to Oregon John who said some weird things to say the least. And also some accusations of his own. I believe that most of what John told me is a lie. But tucked away deep in there, there may just be a few kernels of truth. Remember what John said?
- [55:15]
Kevin Pascoya
And a girl come and hung out.
- [55:16]
Payne Lindsay
In my tent one night and she.
- [55:18]
Jake
Walked off somewhere and somebody kidnapped her and murdered her. The whole town thought I murdered her. The FBI had to come in. They cleared me. They found her buried under the dude's house, the Met dealer. And they thought I did it. So I bounced.
- [55:30]
Payne Lindsay
I was the last person that seen her alive besides the guy that killed her. Besides Michael McGowan, what else does John know that he's not saying? Since part one of this season, I've been sent hundreds of emails about Oregon John. He was a cab driver in Gnome before Florence went missing. And one person had a terrifying experience during one of those cab rides. And they sent me a video of it.
- [55:59]
Christine Pascoya
You in the ass with a chainsaw.
- [56:02]
Payne Lindsay
No, I didn't.
- [56:02]
Jake
I Was trying to tell you to get out of my right cuz you won't lift your. Cuz you're too drunk and don't belong to sleep. Yeah, well, you know what? You're still walking home, ain't you?
- [56:13]
Christine Pascoya
Yeah, you are.
- [56:14]
Payne Lindsay
Holy moly, that's nuts.
- [56:21]
Jake
903 4.
- [56:22]
Payne Lindsay
It's too much drama for you?
- [56:24]
Jake
This been going on for the last half hour.
- [56:28]
Payne Lindsay
Five people came over, tried to beat.
- [56:29]
Jake
Me up cuz I called copyright.
- [56:33]
Christine Pascoya
They came from so percent over to where I was.
- [56:36]
Jake
What the.
- [56:39]
Payne Lindsay
Yeah, it's going to be a while.
- [56:41]
Jake
I'm the only cab.
- [56:42]
Payne Lindsay
The other one just left on me.
- [56:44]
Christine Pascoya
I don't know where he is.
- [56:47]
Tom Vaden
Check your cat.
- [56:51]
Payne Lindsay
With Michael McGowan on the run. I need to try and talk to Oregon John again, but this time as the real me. Hello, John?
- [57:16]
Jake
Yeah.
- [57:17]
Payne Lindsay
Yes, this is Payne Lindsay.
- [57:22]
Jake
Okay. Tay and Lindsey.
- [57:26]
Payne Lindsay
I'm the podcast guy.
- [57:28]
Jake
Oh.
- [57:32]
Payne Lindsay
How'S it going?
- [57:34]
Jake
Same different day.
- [57:38]
Payne Lindsay
Question for you. Would you ever be down to sit down one on one and just talk to me about everything? We can set the terms and, you know, make it comfortable for both of us, you know?
- [57:57]
Jake
You know, all I have is the truth.
- [58:01]
Payne Lindsay
You know, that's it. Well, let's talk about that.
- [58:08]
Christine Pascoya
We'll talk and we'll set something up.
- [58:11]
Jake
I appreciate Fish.
- [58:14]
Christine Pascoya
Got some stories for you.
- [58:16]
Jake
You have no idea.
- [58:21]
Payne Lindsay
One of the hardest parts about doing this investigation in real time as the podcast is coming out, is the game of chess we're playing in the background. When do we say certain things that we know? And I've decided it's time to reveal some details I think the community itself could help us with. Weeks after Joseph Balderas went missing on June 25th, his credit card was used five different times in Nome on July 8th, 9th, 11th, 13th, and 14th. This was literally while his family was in Nome searching for him. Somebody had his credit card and was using it. Joseph's mother was able to track down the physical receipts from the store where all these purchases were made. It's called Bonanza Express, a convenience store on the corner next to where Joseph used to live. I have the dates of birth of these alleged individuals who made these purchases because they're on the receipts. But after investigating this to the fullest extent, it seems likely that whoever was working the counter just punched in random dates and that happens. But the purchases that were made each time were always the same things. Here's what they were. 12 ounce cans of Red Bull, pretty common. 16 ounce cans of a monster energy drink called Mad dog a lighter and every time boxes and boxes of menthol cigarettes of the brand Kool K O O L. So I'm asking the community who smoked Kool Menthol cigarettes in Nome, Alaska in the summer of 2016? Not everyone I'm sure, but we're looking for you and we're going to find you. We're going to take one more break simply so we can continue this investigation into both of these cases. But this season as a whole is far from over and we're coming back with a final installment in just a few months. The community engagement this season has been amazing and as a team, we want to thank all of you for your support. On November 10th in Atlanta, Georgia, I'll be hosting an up and Vanished live event and all the ticket proceeds will be donated back to the family's reward fund. So if you're in Atlanta or you want to make the drive or flight there, come see me on November 10th at Terminal West. I'd love to meet you all in person and discuss these cases in a much deeper way. I'll be sharing exclusive video interviews from the season tape that has not yet been released and give you a complete behind the scenes look of our investigation. We'd love to see you if you want to come. You can get tickets now by going to upandvanish.com tickets this is a one night event only November 10th in Atlanta and you can get tickets now by going to upandvanish.com tickets the link is also in the description. All proceeds from the show are being donated back to the family's reward fund. We'll be back soon with the third and final installment of this season. But if you want a sneak peek of what's to come, come see US in Atlanta November 10th at Terminal West. Link to tickets are in the description. Just go to upandvantage.com tickets thanks for listening. See you soon.
- [62:09]
Leah
Up and Vanished in the Midnight sun is a production of Tenderfoot TV in a city association with Odyssey. Your host is Payne Lindsay. The show is written by Payne Lindsay with additional assistance from Mike Rooney. Executive producers are Donald Albright and Payne Lindsey. Lead producer is Mike Rooney along with producers Dylan Harrington and Cooper Skinner. Editing by Mike Rooney and Cooper Skinner with additional editing by Dylan Harrington. Supervising producer is Tracy Kaplan. Additional Production by Victoria McKenzie, Alice Kanique, Glenn and Eric Quintana. Artwork by Rob Sheridan. Original music by Makeup and Vanity. Set mix and mastered by Cooper Skinner. Thank you to Oren Rosenbaum and the team at uta Beck Media and Marketing and the Nord Group. Special thanks to all of the families and community members that spoke to the team. Additional information and resources can be found in our show Notes. For more podcasts like up and Banished, search Tenderfoot TV on your favorite podcast app, or visit us us@Tenderfoot TV. Thanks for listening.
- [63:14]
Payne Lindsay
Water Damage is no Joke did you know that water damage makes up more than 25% of all home insurance claims? And the average claim costs over $13,000. Don't let a small leak turn into a big expense. Learn more at go.pemco.com Nojoke Pemco Mutual Insurance Co. Seattle, WA.